TheSamba.com :: View topic - blinking oil light & buzzer playing tricks with me

Tue Mar 10, 2009 8:24 am

1987 westy 178,750 miles. Just had the leaking heads resealed (new installed about 30,000 miles ago) and a new fuel pump and filter installed. Mechanic added new grounds on engine. Now when I drive the van for 10 or so miles at 60 to 65 mph and slow down the oil light and buzzer starts their shenanigans at 3200 rpm. Increase to 3300 rpm they quit. At 3200 rpm they are intermittent will do their thing for few seconds and then stop, sometimes continues until rpm drops to idling @900 rpm. Sometimes the problem starts around 2000 rpm. Blip the throttle and they stop. Engine runs fine, with no unusual noises, acceleration is fine, gas milage seems to be down.
The only other problems are a noisy speedometer cable during cold weather and a shifting problem(crunch, feels like it is the base of the gearshift) going from first to second on cold days for the first couple of shifts.
This has been my daily driver for the past year.
Any suggestions?

Tue Mar 10, 2009 8:35 am

Since your mechanic just got through fiddling with wires and whatnot in your engine compartment and suddenly your oil pressure buzzer is going off, I'd say there might be a connection, wouldn't you?

Also, and this has happened, you might be low on oil. You might have a wanky filter. You might be using the wrong weight of oil. The sender wire(s) might be cracked or bare and grounding on the frame or the sender itself may have picked this very moment to poop out.

You wont really know whats happening until you get a gauge on your engine and find out what the real deal is.

Anyway, do a search here. There's only three or four billion posts on the subject.

GOOD LUCK AND KEEP US POSTED!

Tue Mar 10, 2009 9:10 am

Could be as simple as the wrong grade of oil. Buy 4 quarts of Castrol 20w50. Drain the oil and put the 4 quarts in. Leave the filter alone. Then see if the problem still exists. Start with simple things first. Do not put in more than 4 quarts. It also comes in 5 quart jugs but you only want to put 4 in so better to buy 4 so you don't have to guess.

Mark

wynnep wrote: 1987 westy 178,750 miles. Just had the leaking heads resealed (new installed about 30,000 miles ago) and a new fuel pump and filter installed. Mechanic added new grounds on engine. Now when I drive the van for 10 or so miles at 60 to 65 mph and slow down the oil light and buzzer starts their shenanigans at 3200 rpm. Increase to 3300 rpm they quit. At 3200 rpm they are intermittent will do their thing for few seconds and then stop, sometimes continues until rpm drops to idling @900 rpm. Sometimes the problem starts around 2000 rpm. Blip the throttle and they stop. ...............

Tue Mar 10, 2009 9:34 pm

We endured this for quite some time on our 91. I screwed around with a bunch of stuff, trying to get the right oil and all that. What solved it after all was simply replacing the sender. It is a bit hard to get at, behind and below the water pump flange, but that's where I would start. If you want, while you're at it, you can change the other oil pressure sensor too, in between the driver's side pushrod tubes. Make sure to put the right sensor in the proper location, usually the molding around the spade is a different colour.

Jeremy

Tue Mar 10, 2009 11:04 pm

Just cured this exact problem in one today. I replaced the high pressure switch (below the water pump) with the .75bar version, instead of the original .9bar version.

Takes a 24mm socket.

I do 'em by loosening the alt. belt and getting it moved out of the way. Then I take the water pump pulley off. I like to remove that nut down on the cross bar, that holds the muffler shield to the cross bar, and that allows teh shield to be pushed down some. Then I use a ratchet and a 24mm socket to break the sender loose.

Wed Mar 11, 2009 7:17 am

87 westy manual trans.
Thanks for the information. Will try replacing the high oil pressure switch. The oil (Castrol 20-50) and oil filter (Mann/Mahle) were changed about 1500 miles ago. The oil was at the top notch on the dip stick.

Bought the oil presure switches. They are on the front seat of the van. Drove about 50 miles today at speeds below 50mph and 3000 rpm and no blinking lights or buzzer. I guess this fixed my problem. All they want is for you to spend money on them. Will actually install them and see if I drive faster. The van would not start yesterday so I bump started it. Got it home and crawled underneath and found that one small wire to the starter had fallen off(blame the mechanic). Cleaned terminals reconnected wire and good to go. While working on the van I checked for loose wires and bad grounds. Sprayed connections and grounds with LPS contract cleaner and with LPS 1 a silicon free lubricant and water dispersal. It drys and is not oily nor will it attract dust & dirt.

While under the van I looked at my transmission code #. best as I can recall it was 301 091 103. Does this identify the year of the transmission.

Wed Mar 11, 2009 7:25 am

The tranny code/date is 2 or 3 letters followed by 5 or 6 numbers. Your letters should be ACW but could be DU or ABD. These codes are stamped INTO into a flat spot. Other numbers are raised casting numbers for the tranny case sections but these tell you nothing much about the year.

Some rebuilders grind off the original code and stamp their own numbers there.

Mark

wynnep wrote: 87 westy manual trans.

While under the van I looked at my transmission code #. best as I can recall it was 301 091 103. Does this identify the year of the transmission.